I mean that
by Pinguin1993
Summary: Oneshot. Based on S01E11  The Shredder Strikes, 2 . Just a plot bunnie that bit me. Raph finds Mikey after a battle. The second time, it almost doesn't end well. T for blood.


**_A/N: _**_So I started watching all the TMNT episodes two days ago. One more time. Because I totally forgot what they were like. This one episode "The Shredder Strikes Back (2)", Episode 11, caused me to write this. Just a short oneshot.. What, if?

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'Cause you always take for granted  
What you have  
Before you lose it.

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_**I mean that  


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**The two brothers went down that street at a painfully slow speed. Michelangelo leaned on his brother's shoulders heavily, complaining every now and then about his hurting ankle. Donatello clenched his teeth shut as not to yell at his younger brother. There were foot ninja all around the streets, searching for them. They could not risk being caught by the foot because of that.

Just as he finished that thought, two dark figures jumped at them from the rooftops. Quick as lightning, Donatello put his body between the attackers and his injured brother. Only when they came nearer, he recognized Raphael and- Master Splinter? What was he doing here? But that didn't matter right now. "Am I glad to see you guys!" Donatello exclaimed. He suddenly felt very tired. Raphael only laughed. "We heard ya two miles away!"

As if on cue, Michelangelo sighed deeply and started moaning. In an instant, all the purposefully built-up tough behaviour fell off Raphael. He knelt by his youngest brother's side before anyone else could do so much as blink. Worry was written all over his features, barely hidden by the dark red mask. "Mikey! You okay?"

Michenangelo did not look up. Instead he moaned again. "I don't know if I can make it", he whispered theatralically. "Raph- is that you?" He finally looked up at his brother, but his eyes seemed to see nothing at all. "The lights", he stuttered, "The lights are turning out! It's all going dark..." He raised his hand in a helpless gesture, not quite reaching the deep green face in front of his. "Tell Raph-" He started again- "Tell Raph-" Another stop.

Raphael was really worried now. What was wrong with his brother? _I will not cry.. I will stay strong. And then I'm gonna slaughter the foot. One by one. _"I'm right here, Mikey. I- I- I'm right here, next to you..." Somewhat helplessly, he placed his hand on his brother's knee. It seemed to work. "You tell Raph.." Mikey whispered again and raised his hand one more time. "He's always been.." His eyes focussed. "A big cheesehead!"

In an instant, Raph's worry turned into rage. What? He was not injured? But his baby brother was not done yet. "Psyche, I can't believe you fell for that!" And he started laughing. "Oh, no, the lights are turning out!" he mimicked his own words, putting a hand against his forehead. "Hahaha!"

Raph growled. "I'll turn _your _lights out for real, wise guy!" he bellowed.

"Raphael, Michelangelo! Quiet down!" Splinter, who had up to then discussed the next moves with Donatello, turned around and eyed them sharply. They had more important things to do. They could not let the foot find them.

Raphael swallowed his rage, and one more time, his brother got away with that.

**~A few weeks later~**

"Raph, look out! Behind you!"

With a growl, the red-clad brother turned around and swatted the approaching foot ninja away like a fly. His silvery sai glinted in the moonlight. Once again, they were on top of an old apartment building. Once again, they were fighting for their lives. _I wonder how the people below us can sleep with all this shouting going on. _But there was a time for thinking, and one for fighting, and right now, fighting it was.

Something broke with a metallic crash. Raph hoped instantly that this had not been a shell crashing into something. He couldn't see any of his brothers. There were foot ninja crawling all over the place, even though he could still hear singing blades and the thud of wood hitting bone. But even the hot-headed brother knew that they had to retreat.

He spotted a flash of orange to his left. _Mikey. _His youngest brother stood on the edge of the building, and only one of his nunchaku was still whirling and spinning. For a second, Raphael's attention was drawn to his various opponents. He slashed, kicked, and in a moment of air, looked again. His brother was gone.

_A fire escape, _Raphael thought. _A way out. _Any other possibility did not even come to his mind. With a battle cry, he charged at the remaining ninja around him. They backed away in fear. Raphael saw with a grin that one or two actually fainted. His sai glinted evilly and his blood red mask matched the various cuts all over his body. He slashed and kicked and blocked, and soon enough he had made his way to the same edge where Mikey had been only moments ago.

There was no fire escape, and the building was high.

_Strange. _Raph caught a blade with his sai on pure instinct and threw it away while he tried to figure that one out. He ducked as a shuriken flew at his head, and in that movement, saw the cable a few feet below the rooftop. He smiled. _So that's it. _With one last cry, he turned and jumped. One or two ninja actually followed him, falling and screaming as they realized their mistake. He grinned as he grabbed the cable with one hand, sheeting his sai with the other, and climbed to the opposite wall. Then he quickly made his way down, using window panes as a help for his hands and feet.

Down in the alley, he looked around. It was just your normal New York alleyway. A few dumpsters, dirt all over the ground, empty cans and crumbled paper. Dog poop. Water dripping out of a rusty pipe. And plenty of shadows. There was even a manhole cover. But where was Mikey?

Raph made his way towards the metal cover to his right. He was almost there when he stepped into something wet. He was about to shrug it off as water, but something about the sensation seemed off. It was not cold. More like... warm.

With a frown, he knelt down. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but it seemed to be fresh blood. He wondered distantly if one of the foot had been splitting his head open right here, but chose not to think about it too much. Instead, he got up again and only stopped in front of the manhole.

A sob reached his ears. He was not sure whether it was really there for a second. Then it came again. Yes, definitely a sob. And one he knew. Cold fingers seemed to reach into his chest and claw at his heart. Mikey. Mikey was crying. In an instant, the saving manhole was forgotten. Breathing heavily, Raphael turned and searched the alleyway.

He found his brother behind one of the dumpsters. A small orange-clad figure, slumped against the wall. There was blood on his face and chest, but Raph couldn't be sure if it was his or the foot's. Still, he knelt down next to the youngest. Mikey was crying. Obviously he didn't recon his brother's presence.

"Mike. Hey, little bro." Soothingly, Raphael put a hand on his brother's knee. "It's all right. I'm right here. Mikey? What's wrong?"

Mikey looked up, but didn't seem to see him. "Donnie? 's that you?" he asked. His voice was barely a whisper. He raised one hand, almost touching his brother's face, but not quite. Raphael was really getting worried now. "Donnie.. I.. It hurts so much..." The small voice trailed off.

Then it klicked. Raphael remembered.

With a snort, the hot-headed brother got up on his feet and stalked away, all the time growling. "Mikey, you idiot. Do you think I fall for your stupid pranks again? Not this time, bro, not this time. Now get up, we need to find Don and Leo." He started to lift the iron manhole cover, but turned again when Mikey didn't follow. "Mike? Joketime's over. Get ya butt up 'n help." He sighed.

A whimper was the only answer he got.

"Mikey, I told ya, not this time." He walked back towards the dumpster. "Stop laying in the dirt, ya gonna get pneumonia or whattaya know." He started to lift his brother by the shoulders. His hand slipped on something wet. He stared at it for a second before his mind made the connection. Blood.

"Shell." Now his voice matched his brother's. "Shell, shell, shell. Mikey. No, come on." He knelt down again, grabbing his brother's chin and lifting it. Those baby blue eyes flickered around before they finally found his amber ones. "Raphie." Michelangelo smiled softly. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

"You are not joking?" Raph was still sceptic, but also really worried. Mikey's eyes went wide. "Joking", he repeated questioningly. "Jo- aww! It hurts!" He tried to slap his brother's hand away, who again started to lift him up, but his touch was weak and his skin cold. "I'm not joking.. I'm not joking..." He repeated that sentence, over and over. For a second, his eyes slid closed, and Raph's breathing stopped. Then Michelangelo looked up at him, piercing, and firm. "Leo, what are you doing? You are mad at me? But it's not a prank. Maybe it was Raphie."

_He's talking nonsense. _The fear was back, eating at Raphael's guts. "I'm not mad at you", he reassured his baby brother. "It's all right. I'm gonna get you home and fix you, I'll promise." His brother seemed happy with that. He snuggled closer into Raph's arms, who now had him in a bridesmaid's carry. "Okay." He yawned, and a small trickle of blood slid from his neck and over his older bro's arm. "I'm tired." He blinked a few times. "Tell Raphie that I'm sorry. I know that was stupid."

Raphael didn't have to ask what the youngest meant. "That's fine", he said and started to run. "He forgave you long ago. Just tell me.. what did you eat yesterday?" _Keep him awake, no matter what._

Michelangelo lived that night. Raph met Donatello and Leonardo just around the corner. They brought their brother home and fixed him up. Soon enough, the orange-clad one's jokes filled the Lair once again.

"Yo, Raphie", Michelangelo called softly after his hot-headed brother. The latter turned around questioningly. "What?"

"You remember the time I pretended to die?"

Raph snorted. "Sure enough, stupid."

Michelangelo ignored that. "I'm sorry." He gave his brother puppy-eyes. "I love you, you know that?"

Raph blinked, taken aback for a second. Then, slowly, a smile spread over his features.

"You mean that?"  
"I mean that."

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_**A/N: **__Yeah, not too sure about the ending, but hey. I'm gonna go back to the eps now. _


End file.
